IR ships GaN-on-Si power transistors

International Rectifier has started to ship GaN power transistors, from its in-house 150mm GaN-on-Si epitaxial process.

The company has been developing the process for a decade, and claims it is “fully compatible” with its current silicon manufacturing facilities.

“GaN has the potential to be infused into every business unit and product line within IR over the long-term. We are excited about GaN, and see it as one of the major drivers for our long-term revenue growth, and market share expansion. I would like to thank all of the individuals involved and congratulate them for this tremendous accomplishment,” said IR CEO Oleg Khaykin. “We fully anticipate the potential impact of GaN-based technology on the power conversion market to be at least as large as the introduction of the power HEXFET by IR over 30 years ago.”

A year ago, IR told Electronics Weekly that it was already using GaN-on-Si transistors inside some own-brand PSU products.